introduction

A new release by Evolution Miniatures is a figure of Soviet Sniper of Special Troops (Afghanistan 1979-1989). The figure was sculpted to compliment Evolution Miniatures’ previous release, Officer of Special Troops GRU (Afghanistan 1984-1989) and I think this line of Special Forces figures from Soviet intervention in Afghanistan will continue with couple of more figures currently in Evolution Miniatures’ pipeline.

The review

The figure arrived safely protected in a hard cardboard box. The box features nicely painted box art and lists both the sculptor (Sergey Traviansky) and the painter (Sergey Traviansky).

The figure parts are contained inside two zip-lock bags. The parts are cast in grey resin and are completely clean of any imperfections… no air-bubbles or seam lines. Again, a perfect cast from Evolution! Casting plugs are intelligently placed on kit parts, allowing easy clean up with minimal chance of damaging the detail. Besides that, most of the plugs are attached to kit pieces on places that are not going to be visible once the figure is fully assembled. However, be careful when removing the delicate weapon from its carrier.

The figure

The figure depicts a Special Troops sniper during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It consists of 5 pieces: full body with legs and the head, left arm, right arm, the SVD weapon with right hand attached and an M-60 helmet.
The fit of the kit parts is excellent; aligning the parts correctly is going to leave almost no visible gaps between the pieces and spare you from the putty work. Test fit the arms to the torso and the hands with the weapon to the arms before gluing… I would suggest fitting both arms first, following the folds of the uniform and then adding a weapon.

The figure is wearing fragmentation body armor over Gorka uniform jacket. The trousers are a part of typical Russian Army winter uniform issued to troops during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan; lined and made of cotton, they have a pocket on each thigh and draw-in ties on each cuff of the leg. The figure wears an Afghani belt with extra SVD ammo rounds, a canteen and a SVD magazine pouch on the chest. The pouch can accommodate 4 SVD magazines, cleaning kit and oil bottle. On its back the figure carries custom modified Soviet RD-54 VDV backpack system comprising of the main and two side compartments reinforced with wire frame for rigidity. An additional pouch is custom sewn on the main RD-54 compartment to hold extra ammunition. Straps on top and bottom of side compartments allow the backpack to accommodate even more equipment; this particular figure carries a poncho secured to the top of the backpack and a sleeping bag strapped to the lower part of the backpack. A very special touch on this figure are Russian-made copies of Adidas sneakers, often worn by Soviet Special Forces operators in Afghanistan.

The figure is armed with SVD (Snaiperskaya Vintovka Dragunova, or Dragunov Sniper Rifle), a semi-automatic sniper rifle. Dragunov SVD was not designed as a “standard” sniper rifle in the Western meaning of the term. In fact, main role of the SVD is to extend effective range of every infantry squad up to about 600 meters and to provide special fire support. SVD is a lightweight and accurate rifle, extremely reliable in all conditions. It can use any type of standard 7,62 ammo. The standard telescope sight of SVD is the 4X fixed magnification PSO-1 with range-finding reticle; the PSO-1 enables effective engagement of targets up to 1300 meters.

Conclusion

I was very happy seeing this figure appear under Evolution Miniatures’ label. Not only because it is a great figure, but also because it clearly suggested Evolution is going to continue with the Soviet Special Forces in Afghanistan line of figures. This figure is complimenting the magnificent Soviet GRU Officer (EM-35001) perfectly; it has the look of a battle proven SF veteran loaded with equipment, very cool gun and the Adidas sneakers.
The figure is perfectly cast and the fit of the parts is excellent. The anatomy of the figure is spot on and the details are just amazing; the Afghani ammo belt, knitted cap and the weapon… I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next figure in this line.

Thanks to Sergey from Evolution Miniatures for this review sample.
Evolution Miniatures

References

Camouflage Uniforms of the Soveit Union and Russia (Schiffer Publishing)

http://www.tridentmilitary.com/Russian.camouflage.htm

http://www.russiancombatgear.com/

http://www.soviet-propaganda.com/

http://www.russianarsenal.com/

http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn18-e.htm